My Personal Ghost
by themusicfiend
Summary: Cedric Diggory is dead, and yet somehow still very much here. Katie Bell is baffled; he's made it his mission to find her a happy ending and it would appear he's not going anywhere until he's found her the perfect person to fall for...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own the Harry Potter world or any of the characters. That pleasure belongs to the great JK**

Katie Bell was hiding. Specifically, she was hiding in the girls' bathroom on the second floor, staring out of the window as a heavy June rain drenched the grounds.

Why was she hiding though? It was the last day of the year, her fifth year, and her OWLs were over. Surely a cause for celebration? She should be with her friends, celebrating.

But Katie was hiding from everyone. No one was going to see her tears. You see, this year had been different. The Triwizard Tournament had taken place at Hogwarts, with _two_ Hogwarts Champions. One; her a fellow Gryffindor. The other; a friend. She supposed that's what Cedric Diggory had been to her.

But while two Hogwarts Champions had entered the Third Task, full of life and fire, only one had returned alive.

It was funny. She had never been able to get rid of him, always bemoaning his constant presence, and now she missed him completely. A heart-rending, stomach-clenching, irrepressible feeling of emptiness had followed her round constantly in the weeks following his death. The pain was lessening now, but it still hurt when she thought about him, like someone had stuck a knife into her chest and twisted it brutally.

Cedric Diggory, seventeen years old, with _so much_ potential, was gone. Gone, dead, deceased, never to walk the halls of Hogwarts. Never again would he imitate her 'Quidditch face', or charm things to follow her around for hours. Never again would she have to endure his terrible jokes or listen to him whinge about Cho Chang fancying Potter...

She couldn't quite believe or comprehend it. People didn't _die_ at seventeen, it was so stupid. And now she would have to spend a whole summer alone, with just her parents for company. Leanne was off to France for the whole summer and there was no Cedric to keep her entertained.

Cedric. It was cruel really. She'd only just started to realise how she felt about him. Just long enough to hope that he might feel the same way, and then he was gone. It was such a waste, how could -

"Hey, Katie," said a male voice behind her.

Katie turned, about to yell at whichever idiot was in the _girls'_ bathroom, and screamed.

Cedric Diggory was standing in front of her, looking very much alive.

"W-wh... what?" she stammered. "H-how are you... _there_?"

"I came to see you," he replied, showing no sign of being a figment of her imagination or anything _rational_.

Katie tried to speak, but all that came out was a kind of squeaking noise. Spinning away from what was surely a hallucination, she paced across the floor. She turned back. He was still there. She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again. Still there.

"Okay," she sighed, pushing her hair back distractedly, "this might be a stupid question, but aren't you supposed to be... y'know, dead?"

He regarded her for a second before replying;

"I am."

Okay, she needed to sit down. She was definitely imagining this... her hands found the windowsill behind her, and she sat on it gratefully, feeling her head spinning.

"You're not really here," she said finally, sounding more confident that she felt. "I mean, I won't be able to touch you, you're just a weird apparation-thing."

Cedric didn't answer, instead moving towards her, stopping within reaching distance of her. She stretched her hand out, expecting to meet nothing, and actually touching the chest of someone who was a lot more solid than should be possible.

"I'm going mad," she muttered.

"You're not," he said kindly. "I'm kind of a ghost, but only you can see, hear or touch me."

Katie raised her eyebrows, wondering if she was literally insane.

"Okay, so let's keep with the 'you're really there' thing. Why are you here?"

"I've got a couple of things I need to do."

"Like what?"

"Like helping you, for starters."

"I don't need help!"

She'd leapt to her feet, fists clenched angrily. Cedric just smiled at her, fiercely independent Katie Bell.

"You need to move on," he told her, "I can read thoughts, you know."

Katie gaped. Oh dear...

"Yes, I know about that," Cedric answered her unspoken question. "When I... _reappeared_, the only thoughts I could hear were yours. Others are coming through now, but yours were the first so I followed them here."

"I, um, whatever you heard, it's not true," Katie said hurriedly. "I'm fine."

"Katie, I know you liked me. But I'm not much use to you now. So, I'm here to sort you out, and to stop you hiding in bathrooms."

She glared at him.

"What makes you think I need sorting out?" she snapped.

Cedric looked sympathetically at her.

"Come on Katie, you're hiding in a bathroom instead of talking to your friends. You've not spoken to anyone for days, have you?"

Katie stared at her feet.

"So?"

"So let's get you back downstairs and on the train home. Then you don't need to talk to anyone all summer."

There was a pause, in which Katie looked up at the ceiling and back at the floor. Then she nodded.

"Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

Katie Bell was greeted by sudden shrieks of her name as she boarded the Hogwarts express, with the ghostly Cedric at her side.

"Katie! It's so good to see you!" her friend Leanne cried, throwing her arms around Katie. "Come on, we've got a compartment to ourselves!"

"Wow, your friends are _loud_," Cedric complained, covering his ears in jest.

Katie swatted his arm.

"What are you doing?" Leanne asked, confused at her friend's bizarre action.

"Oh, it was just a fly," Katie shrugged.

They settled themselves into the compartment with their other friends, Sarah and Rachel.

"_So_," Rachel leaned forwards keenly. "How was your summer? I feel like I've not seen you for months!"

Katie decided rapidly to keep it simple. "Oh you know," she said vaguely, "just spent it with some old friends. How about you guys?"

"Italy was great, hot sun, nice food…," Sarah drifted off dreamily.

"That's not all," Leanne giggled. "Tell Katie what happened."

Sarah and Rachel giggled too. Katie looked from one to the other, mystified.

"Oh? Something interesting I hope?" she asked.

"Cormac's been writing to me all summer," Sarah dissolved into fresh giggles.

That was supposed to be exciting? Katie despaired of her friends sometimes.

"What? McLaggen?"

Her three friends nodded and started laughing again.

"Okay, your friends are seriously weird," Cedric said. "McLaggen is a total creep and they _like_ him?"

Katie shrugged; she didn't understand it any more than he did.

"Well, if it's alright with you, I'm going to skip the train journey," he stood up, stretching.

"Where are you going?" Katie hissed, first checking her friends weren't listening.

"To see my parents. Don't worry," he said quickly, pre-empting her concerned question, "I'll be fine, honest. See you at the castle."

And with that he disappeared, leaving Katie's mind to wander. She still had no idea why Cedric was _really_ still here; she had a feeling he'd not told her the whole truth. What had he meant when he said he needed to help her? It was a complete mystery.

.. Barely twenty minutes into the journey they were joined by the interminable Cormac McLaggen and two of his blockhead friends. Leanne, Rachel and Sarah in particular seemed rather pleased at this, but, as McLaggen settled himself uncomfortably close to Katie, she felt it was time to get out.

"I'm going to find the team," she addressed her friends. "I'll be back in a bit."

"The team, huh?" McLaggen smirked. "I might try out this year, now Wood's gone." "Don't get your hopes too high," Katie said icily, exiting the compartment as quickly as she could.

Okay, now what to do? She wasn't _actually_ going to find the team - she didn't get on all that well with Angelina anyway – so she had to find something to do for the next five hours!

She wandered slowly down the train, wishing Cedric hadn't deserted her. At least if he was here too they could laugh at McLaggen together.

Four compartments down, she found Fred and George Weasley, and Lee Jordan. Ah, now this wasn't a bad idea; she did rather enjoy their company. She slid open the door, interrupting their game of Exploding Snap.

"Hey," she smiled at them. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you guys mind if I hang out with you for a bit? McLaggen's just taken over the compartment I _was_ in."

"McLaggen?" Fred asked. "Poor you. Of course you can-"

"We are _much_ better company than that worm anyway," George agreed. "Now, prepare to be massacred through the medium of Exploding Snap…."

By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade, Katie had sworn never to accept food from Fred and George. She had been turned into a canary at least three times, become weightless and turned purple twice.

"Okay, I will _never_ trust you guys again," she declared, turning back to her original skin colour with a pop.

Fred and George fell about laughing.

"You never trusted them anyway, did you?" Lee pointed out, inspecting a Chocolate Frog carefully before eating it.

Katie glanced over at the twins, who had gone suspiciously quiet. Right on cue, Lee turned into a canary. Once again, the twins dissolved into giggles.


	3. Chapter 3

Cedric was sitting in Dumbledore's chair when Katie arrived in the Great Hall. He looked so bizarrely at home that Katie stopped for a second, suddenly aware that Cedric would never again be in the Great Hall alive. It was a sobering thought; he couldn't stay around as a ghost forever. Sooner or later he'd probably disappear, to wherever ghosts went.

George walked into her, surprised by her sudden halt.

"You alright, Katie?" he asked, looking concerned. "It must be weird thinking Diggory's never going to be here again."

Katie turned to him, surprised. That was unusually insightful of George; he was generally the one making stupid jokes with Fred…

"It is strange," she agreed, watching Cedric pull faces at Snape, "but I'm okay."

She smiled at him, grateful for, and slightly confused by his concern.

As all the students sat down to eat, Katie was distracted by the sight of Cedric wandering around the Great Hall, peering at everyone.

"_What are you doing?_" she thought, remembering he could hear her thoughts.

Cedric turned around and waved his hand at her. Katie was mystified. What on earth was he doing? He leapt onto the Slytherin table, walking down it without really looking at any of the Slytherins. Then he was onto the Ravenclaws, eyeing them all critically. It was almost as if he was assessing them…

Later that evening, Katie was unpacking in her little dormitory. It was good to be back; this room felt like home now after five years at school. One by one, her dorm-mates finished packing and went down to the Common Room to catch up with their friends. Katie however just wanted to find out what exactly Cedric had been doing. In fact, she really wanted to know why he was _here_ in the first place.

Finally the dorm was empty, apart from her and Cedric, who had been lounging on her bed for the past twenty minutes. Katie set down the books she was holding.

"Okay, _now_ will you tell me why you're back?" she asked bluntly.

Cedric sighed dramatically and sat up.

"So impatient. Honestly, it's quite ridiculous."

"Cedric," Katie warned. "Just tell me."

"Alright alright."

He got up, walking over to the window before turning to face her.

"Well, quite simply, amongst the odd other thing, I have been sent back, in my marvellous ghostly form to help you be happy," he told her somewhat cryptically.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I can't go _on_ until you've fallen in love," Cedric explained.

_"What?_ That's ridiculous!"

Katie was surprised to say the least.

"Seriously, that's why I'm still here. I have to help you be truly happy. Y'know, find true love."

"Seems a bit sappy. What if I never 'find true love'?" Katie spotted a flaw in this plan.

"Don't be melodramatic, of course you will," Cedric said kindly. "And if you don't, then I'll be hanging around for a lot longer."

Katie was baffled. She felt like she'd fallen into some bizarre fairytale. Cedric ruined it a moment later;

"Of course, we'll have to work fast. The older you get, the harder it'll be to get some poor fool to fall for you," he grinned.

He was rewarded a second later by Katie flinging a pillow at him.

"Ow, that hurt. I _can_ still feel pain, y'know."

"Good," Katie snapped, but she smiled at him. "Okay, so since you're matchmaker extraordinaire, have you spotted any eligible bachelors for me to attract?"

Cedric merely smiled enigmatically.

"Perhaps," he said slowly. "But I'm not going to tell you just yet. You'll have to wait and see. Who knows, you might accidentally pick the one I have in mind…."

Katie spent the next few days fretting over what Cedric had said. Every time Cedric was nearby, which was most of the time, she was unnerved by how closely he was examining every male student in the vicinity. Once or twice he indicated a particular boy, to which she shook her head vehemently. He didn't seem to have very good taste for a matchmaker…

This, coupled with the fact that she was beginning of her N.E.W.T.s and the fact that Dumbledore seemed to have hired the worst Defence against the Dark Arts teacher of all time, was stressing Katie out.

The new teacher, Umbridge, was pure evil. N.E.W.T. level classes were supposed to be about practical wandwork, and yet all this woman let them do was read the textbook. Enquiring of Fred and George revealed that it was the exact same in their year. What was the point? Cedric even remarked that it was one of the few reasons he was glad he was dead. That sobered the mood somewhat.

All in all, Katie was very glad when the Quidditch season finally started. Although, it didn't seem that they had much chance of winning the cup this year; Ron Weasley was the new Keeper. He didn't seem to share Fred and George's prowess.

Their first practice began with the Slytherin team watching and laughing at them. Angelina, with steely determination, started them off throwing the quaffle between them, which went well, until Ron threw it at Katie so hard that it sailed through her outstretched hands and smacked her in the face.

Pain exploded across her face and she could feel blood start to flow.

"Ron, be careful!" Angelina shouted.

Katie checked her nose, it wasn't bleeding too badly really. After a second of quick conferring, Fred and George offered her a purple sweet.

"It's the antidote to our Nosebleed Nougat," George explained.

"Don't worry, it's not going to kill you," Fred added.

She took it dubiously, remembering the Canary Creams from the train journey. But it didn't have any instant horrible effects, so it all seemed okay.

Angelina marshalled them into a game, firmly ignoring the taunts of the Slytherins, who were now singing "Gryffindors are losers!" very loudly. Katie struggled to play with any kind of prowess as her nosebleed was becoming more and more heavy. She slowed, unable to fly properly whilst trying to staunch the flow of blood.

Angelina flew past; "Can't you stop it, Katie?" she shouted, looking rather unimpressed.

"I'm trying!" Katie countered, feeling hard done by. It wasn't her fault. If anything it was Angelina's for recruiting such a rubbish Keeper.

Moments later she began to feel lightheaded as the blood continued to flow. She'd slowed to a halt now, struggling to stay on her broomstick. Distantly, she heard Angelina's whistle go and saw the team flying towards her.

"Can't you stop it?" Angelina did not sound happy.

"It's getting worse," Katie snapped. "I can't do anything about it!"

She saw Fred and George look at each other worriedly.

"We might have given her a Blood Blisterpod by mistake," Fred said slowly.

"Oh well brilliant," Angelina rolled her eyes. "Take her to the hospital wing, you two."

Fred and George hurried Katie into the castle and up two flights of stairs to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey fussed over, sending the twins outside while she sorted Katie out.

Ten minutes, three different potions and an incantation later, Katie was okay, and the twins were allowed back in. They both looked very worried, and were accompanied by the ghostly Cedric, who seemed very amused by the whole thing.

"Are you alright?" George asked.

"Sorry about the mix-up," Fred continued.

"We're not trying to kill you, honest," George added.

"Forgive us?"

Katie laughed.

"I'm fine, don't worry. It was almost worth it to get out of that awful practice."

"Definitely," George agreed "Angelina seems to be channelling Wood."

He was right; their new captain was every bit as obsessively hard-working as Oliver Wood.

"I'd better go see her actually," Fred spoke suddenly. "She'll be cursing us for messing up practice."

He strode off hurriedly, bearing more than a passing resemblance to a hunted animal.

"Not that Angelina wears the trousers in your relationship or anything," George muttered, just loud enough for Katie to hear.

Fred was still within earshot so Katie tried to stop her laughter. However it had the opposite effect and she ended up snorting embarrassingly, though that was rapidly made worse by her nosebleed starting up again. Cedric, needless to say, found this utterly hilarious, which Katie thought was really rather unfair of him.

"Merlin, I'm sorry Katie!" George leapt up grabbing the box of tissues by her bedside and handing them to her. "I didn't realise my jokes were that funny."

Katie made a derisive noise through the tissues she was holding to her face.

"Don't flatter yourself, Weasley. It's just that your presence makes my brain want to escape out of my nose."

"Ouch," George put his hand to his heart in mock agony. "You're a harsh woman, Katie Bell. All I've ever wanted to do was to make a living from my comedy, and you shoot me down."

Regarding him over the mass of tissues, Katie smiled in spite of herself. Cedric was watching this exchange with interest.

"You're bizarre, you know that?"

"I came to terms with it many years ago," George shrugged. "But listen, can I make this up to you? I feel bad about making you lose so much blood."

"I guess so," Katie said slowly, wondering why Cedric had suddenly started pretending to swoon. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'll get back to you on that, but it'll be good," George assured her, smiling.


	4. Chapter 4

Cedric remained rather quiet on the matchmaker front for the following days. Katie forgot to be suspicious about his lack of comments as work stepped up. However, as stress levels increased she was plagued by something other than a ghostly reincarnation of her friend; vivid and terrifying nightmares. Some, though not all, rehashed over and over again Cedric dying, to the point where she woke up shaking with fear and sadness. In others it was her family, and her friends who died again and again.

So far she'd managed to hide the dreams from Cedric, although as he could hear her thoughts this was rather a difficult task. But these days he disappeared every evening to see his parents, so Katie had, thus far managed to hide the dreams

For the fourth time that week Katie woke in the middle of the night, shaking and trembling from yet another nightmare. She shuddered as the dream flashed back to her again; more dead Cedric, more high shrieking laughter as his body fell to the ground again and again. She wasn't sure whether that nightmare was worse than the one about her family, or the one where everything she'd ever known burned in horrifying flames. What was wrong with her?!

Katie couldn't go back to sleep; there was no way she was risking more dreams. There was nothing for it, she'd have to stay up for the rest of the night. At least she could finish her Charms essay or read a book or something. Sighing, she sat up, pulling on her brother's old Kenmare Kestrels hoody and heading down to the common room.

The fire was still gently burning, filling the room with enough warmth to counteract the chill of the night air. Katie sat down opposite it, on the squashy sofa and opened up her Charms textbook.

"What are you doing up so late?" a voice startled her.

She turned to see George sat in the far corner of the common room, surrounded by books.

"I could ask you the same thing, Mr Weasley," she threw back.

George grinned at her feisty response.

"I've got an essay due tomorrow, Miss Bell," he responded in kind, getting up to join her.

"Can't you copy bits from Fred's?" Katie asked.

"Sadly not," George sat down next to her with a sigh. "Angelina's got her claws into him so now I can't even have a quick look at his essays."

"Ah man, that sucks," Katie said vehemently.

"Well there's no changing it now," George shrugged. "Anyway, you never answered my question; what are _you _doing up so late?"

"I had a nightmare," Katie sighed. "I keep having them at the moment, and I don't want to go back to sleep because it'll just happen again."

"What kind of nightmares, if you don't mind me asking?" George asked, unusually serious.

Katie looked away. It was kind of embarrassing really, now she had to tell someone else.

"Often it's Cedric dying, but other times it's my family and all you guys here," she sighed. "It's awful, I'm actually scared of going to sleep now."

"You're a bit messed up, aren't you, Katie?" George said kindly.

"Oh cheers, George," Katie snorted. "You are so sympathetic."

"I try," he grinned back. "Anyway, I guess we'd better keep you awake. Have a look at my essay, will you? I need something else to say in it."

Katie smiled at him gratefully. This caring side of George was surprising but nice. They passed the rest of the night companionably, working on their essays and talking all sorts of rubbish. Around five in the morning Katie fell asleep over her essay, and after removing the crumpled parchment from under her head, George also began to nod off. The sofas in the common room were just too comfortable!

Cedric found them a couple of hours later, heads close together on the sofa. He stopped to consider this event for a moment; it was certainly interesting. But then he heard movement above, as the other Gryffindor students began to wake up for the day ahead. It was probably best he woke Katie and George, before anyone else saw them and forced this interesting situation.

"Katie," he shook her shoulder gently. "Katie, wake up!"

She stirred, sleepily opening her eyes.

"Cedric," she mumbled, surprised. "What is it?"

"You'll probably want to move before people see this," Cedric nodded to George lying next to her.

"Ah, yeah," she nodded, before saying, "_Don't_ even think it."

"Think what?" Cedric protested innocently.

"You know what," she said accusingly. "Now let me go get dressed before breakfast."

She nudged George awake before hurrying off to get dressed. At breakfast, the two of them were both bleary-eyed from the lack of sleep. But, Katie considered, as she reached for the orange juice, yawning deeply, it had been worth it. It had been an enjoyable night, and she had managed to write a pretty good essay. George caught her eye and smiled. He too could barely keep his eyes open, but considered that actually the exhaustion was quite worth it.

Two days later, Katie was sitting in the common room, attempting to ignore Angelina's Quidditch-planning monologue, as she worked on her Defence Against the Dark Arts homework. It wasn't going very well, particularly as Angelina kept glaring over at her every few moments, no doubt still blaming Katie for having been hit in the face with a quaffle and therefore being banned from training for the week.

It was made worse by the sounds of Katie's frankly inane friends giggling over Cormac Mclaggen _again_. Katie didn't understand it. At this current moment he was sitting near Fred and George, writing an essay, and yet this seemed like the most fascinating thing in the universe to her friends. Sighing, Katie turned back to the deplorably boring world of Counter-Curse Theory. Bloody Umbridge, bloody Angelina, bloody McLaggen, bloody stupid Ron for stopping her playing Quidditch. Just, bloody everything!

She slammed the textbook shut in a pique of frustration and sighed, sitting back in her chair. She needed some entertainment, anything really, to take her mind off her bad mood. Luckily, mere seconds later, entertainment was provided. Ron Weasley and his two friends walked into the common room, and barely had they entered the room when the bushy-haired girl spotted something on the noticeboard. She turned to Ron and snapped something, to which he merely shrugged. What on earth could it be?

It was revealed, a moment later, to be an advertisement from Fred and George, asking people to try out their products. The bushy-haired girl was not happy about this, as she promptly informed the twins. Cedric reappeared at this moment.

"What have I missed?" he asked Katie, observing this exchange with interest.

"Hermione's exploding at the twins again."

"Oh excellent!"

Cedric sat forward to witness the fight.

"Chill out Hermione!" Fred was saying, alarmed at her anger. "We can put up whatever notices we want."

"It's against school rules!" Hermione snapped in reply. "You are not allowed to put up posters advertising work!"

Katie sat back, regarding the rapidly escalating rant with amusement. What an excellent idea to make this Hermione a prefect. She exploded at least once a week.

"If you do it again I will report you to Professor McGonagall!" was the culmination of Hermione's rant at the twins.

"Okay okay," George stood up, hands in front of him. "There's no need to do that. We won't do it again, okay?"

Hermione seemed placated somewhat and marched off back to her friends. George caught Katie's eye and grinned.

"Enjoying the fireworks?" he asked across the room.

"As ever," Katie grinned back, before turning back to her essay resignedly.

A second later, a familiar redhead was sitting in the chair next to her. Cedric let out a wolfwhistle. Katie raised her eyebrows at Cedric, wondering which tree exactly he was barking up this time.

"How's it going?" George asked, indicating her essay.

"Oh, you know, about as well as a fish trying to ride a broomstick," she said wryly. "Umbridge is the _worst_."

"Oh I agree," George nodded. "I think she's actually worse than Quirrell, if that's even possible!"

Katie laughed; Umbridge being worse than a Voldemort-possessed guy in a turban was a truly terrible thought.

"So anyway, Miss Bell," George continued on a tangent, "I have found the perfect way to make up for nearly killing you last week."

"Oh have you now, Mr Weasley?"

"I have indeed. But I'm not telling you what it is."

"Okay…?" Katie was confused.

"It's a surprise. But it's good. All you need to do is be ready next Saturday at say, 11, okay?"

"Um, sure," this wasn't becoming any clearer.

"Smashing. Now I'd better get back to my work. See you later Katie," he shot her a cheery wink and headed back to his twin.

Katie became aware that Cedric was grinning at her.

"What?" she asked exasperatedly. "What are you looking so pleased about?"

"Oh nothing," he chuckled.

"Cedric, you'd better tell me!"

"You're setting me up with _George_?" Katie exclaimed later that day by the lake where she'd dragged Cedric to get the truth out of him.

"Of course. You went to the Yule Ball together, that's already a good start," Cedric nodded cheerfully.

"It was a pity date," Katie said flatly. "He'd wanted to go with Angelina, and I'd wanted to go with... you," she finished sheepishly. "So we went with each other as a kind of 'oh well, we'll have fun anyway' kind of thing."

Cedric merely grinned, in that smug all-knowing kind of way he so often did.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Katie demanded, convinced he knew something she didn't. "Can you hear other people's thoughts apart from mine?"

"Not at all, Katie dear," chuckled Cedric. "I just like winding you up. I will say though, going to the ball together in whatever spirit, is still a very good thing. Trust me."

"Hmmph. I think you're wrong. You can't just pick someone to set me up with and expect it to work," Katie pointed out, sounding, to herself, very rational.

Cedric just smiled enigmatically. "We shall see, we shall see."


	5. Chapter 5

"So?" Cedric asked Katie for what must have been the fourteenth time that day, "what was the surprise?"

Katie shook her head at Cedric, surrounded as she was by pile of library books. "I'm working, Cedric!" she hissed.

"Oh come on, Katie," Cedric pulled a face at her, "It's a dull life being a ghost, give me something interesting news."

Katie shook her head and turned back to her essay. Cedric, however, had other ideas; he leaned over and poked her repeatedly.

"What now Cedric?" Katie threw her pen down in frustration. "I have to finish this essay for next lesson, can you not go haunt someone else?"

Cedric pouted grumpily, stretching his face to ridiculous proportions to coax a giggle from her.

"Oh fine," she sighed. "But you have to help me with my work, you did Charms last year so you can help."

Grinning widely, Cedric took the essay and began to look through it, muttering to himself. Katie had decided early on last year - when Cedric had still been alive - that she hated the way he looked over her work. It was like he was a teacher or something. But at that point, she'd been so enamoured of him that she hadn't protested. And now, well, he was dead, so it seemed unfair to kick up a fuss.

"What are you staring at?" Cedric's voice broke into her thoughts.

She blinked, suddenly aware that she'd zoned out.

"Oh, I was just thinking…." She said slowly.

"Well that's not good enough, tell me about the surprise," Cedric grinned. "We made a bargain."

"Okay, fine. Fred and George took me to see the Kenmare Kestrels vs Tutshill Tornadoes match," Katie relented, knowing that Cedric would immediately pounce on this.

"Oh really?" Cedric sat up dramatically. "Aren't Kenmare Kestrels your favourite team?"

"Well yes, that was the point. What of it?"

"It's rather sweet really," Cedric said, "that dear George would remember your favourite team and take you to the match to make up for nearly killing you. I feel a plan coming together."

Katie glared at him as she realised what he was up to.

"Don't you dare, Cedric. I'm good friends with the twins, it'd be weird if you started doing your creepy matchmaking thing," she told him, piling up her textbooks.

"Are you storming off in a mood?" Cedric grinned again. He was loving this. "I won't be all creepy, I promise."

"I'm just going to lunch, you dingbat," Katie shook her head at him. "But thank you, I appreciate it. You're weird enough as it is, without adding in this ridiculous 'quest' of yours."

Katie sat with the twins at lunch, half mulling over Cedric's comments as she ate and watched them try to jinx Roger Davies from across the Great Hall. After twenty minutes of failed attempts, Hermione Granger suddenly came over. Katie and the twins regarded her with some trepidation, was she coming over to tell them off again? However, they were surprised and gratified to hear that her reason for joining them was entirely different.

"Look", she said in that bossy 4th year way, "You know Umbridge is awful, we all do. We're not learning anything from her, and I don't know about you three but I really want to pass my exams."

The three stared at each other in confusion. Had she just come over to complain about Umbridge? A moment later she got to the point.

"A few of us are thinking of setting up a group to teach ourselves the defensive magic we need. What do you think? Are you all in?"

In all honesty this didn't really need much thought. Of course they wanted to learn to use defensive spells, of course they wanted to spite Umbridge and learn for themselves. So, of course they would join a secret defense group!

George nodded at Hermione. "We're in."

"Great," she said cheerily. "We're meeting at the Hog's Head next Hogsmeade visit. See you then."

And off she went. Katie and the twins were left in baffled amusement.

"It's a great idea," Fred said finally.

"Yeah, but who's going to teach us?" Katie pointed out.

"Patience my young friend," George intoned in a spookily accurate impression of Dumbledore.

"Are you sure he's related to you?" Katie asked Fred, "He's just so weird..." she grinned at George, leaning over and stealing his sandwich. "And that's for stealing my toast earlier!"

"Oi!" George snatched it back and licked it. "Do you want it now?" he waved it in front of her face.

"Surprisingly, no thanks," Katie said sarcastically, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You guys are so immature," Fred sighed dramatically. "I'm off to find Angelina."

"Whipped!" George coughed loudly.

"What was that?" Fred turned back.

George and Katie smiled at him winningly. "Oh nothing, Fred," Katie said innocently.

Fred walked off as she and George dissolved into laughter.

"So anyway," George said finally, when they'd stopped laughing. "Want to come to Hogsmeade with us? We're making an illegal trip to Zonko's."

Earlier that week, after a particularly amusing prank by the twins, Umbridge had banned the possession of any Zonko's joke shop products. Not that this ban would deter Fred and George...

"Sure, I've been meaning to pay Flint back for locking me in the dungeons," Katie glared over at the Slytherin table.

George chuckled. "Remind me not to get on your bad side!"

The following Saturday, Katie lined up with the twins outside the school. Filch was searching each student very, very slowly, so it took over half an hour to get out of the gate and walk down the muddy path to Hogsmeade.

"Umbridge is on high alert," George frowned, as the three headed to Zonko's. "It's like she knows something is happening."

"She can't possibly," Katie pointed out, "Hermione's so over-careful about things, so there's no way she'd have let it get out."

Zonko's was empty; clearly everyone was listening to Umbridge's rules. The owner of Zonko's came out of the back of the shop and grinned.

"Gentlemen, lady," he bowed at Katie. "I'm so glad you've not been scared off by that hag."

"Of course not, Frank, when do we ever follow the rules?" Fred grinned in reply.

The three browsed the shelves, admiring the vast array of pranking products available. This was the best part of Hogsmeade visits hands down; where else could they find such fantastic things to cause havoc with?

However, 20 minutes of enjoyably browing later, disaster struck.

Frank suddenly turned white as a sheet. "It's her!" he hissed to Katie and the twins. And sure enough, there was Umbridge, hurrying towards the shop with a look of grim determination on her toadlike face.

"Quick, hide!" Frank whispered.

Fred, who was at the counter, flung himself behind it, crawling behind some boxes. George dived for the stock cupboard behind a curtain. Katie froze; in the middle of the shop she had nowhere to go.

"Katie here!" George poked his head round the curtain. "Quick!"

Katie ran for the cupboard, slipping as she did so on the long carpet on the floor. She fell into the cupboard, bashing her head on the shelf.

"Ouch!" she cried, hauling herself up and clutching her head. "Godric that hu-,"

George covered her mouth with his hand as the bell above the shop door jingled.

"Shh," he whispered, staring at her with fearful eyes.

Outside, Umbridge was busy quizzing Frank. Had there been any students in here? Had he seen the Weasley twins? And on and on, until they thought they'd be trapped forever.

In the cupboard, Katie was finding it hard to breath with George's hand over her mouth. Slowly, she tried to wriggle out, managing instead to knock her head on something else behind her. Desperately holding in her shout of pain, she glared at George who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Are you okay?" he mouthed, leaning closer to check.

Suddenly Katie was very aware of just how small the cupboard was. She was practically nose to nose with George. And weirdly, she'd never really noticed how attractive all those freckles made him...

Katie stared up at George, who was equally frozen. Every sound outside in the shop seemed to fade and all Katie could hear was the pounding of her heart.

A second later though, the shop bell rang and Frank called; "She's gone!". Katie leapt backwards, out of the cupboard, slipping once more in her hurry to get away from George. She landed on the floor again.

"Come on, clumsy Kate," George held out a hand to help her up.

She quickly leapt to her feet, avoiding his eyes.

"Has Umbridge gone back to the castle?" she asked Frank.

He nodded.

"Oh thank Godric," Fred said, "Now we'd better head to the Hog's Head or Hermione will kill us."

As they left Zonko's, George seemed to decide to alleviate the awkwardness, and stole Katie's hat, throwing it to George as he ran off. Katie ran after the twins, trying desperately to grab it back as they threw it between them. By the time they reached the Hog's Head, all awkwardness was forgotten.


	6. Chapter 6

"I think I'm actually going mad from being inside so long," Fred declared, throwing down his quill and spattering ink all over his Potions essay.

Outside, the rain which had been falling for nearly a week now continued to batter the sodden grounds.

"Some would say you're already there," George replied a little snippily; this infernal weather and Umbridge's suspension of the Gryffindor Quidditch team were making them all a bit grumpy.

"I can always count on your brotherly support, eh Georgie?" Fred narked back, flicking ink onto George's own Potions essay.

Katie, hanging out with the twins again for, oddly enough, some sanity from her ridiculous friends, laughed at the pair of them glaring at each other.

"Oh come on guys," she placated them. "If it hadn't been raining and you both weren't mad, would you have created Fever Fudge by now?"

"You make a good point," George conceded, removing the spilt ink from his page with a wave of his wand, just as the ever-infuriating Peeves launched an inkpellet at his work. "Peeves! I've spent hours on this you menace!" George glared at Peeves in frustration.

Peeves merely chuckled and floated away, dropping more inkpellets on more unsuspecting students.

"Y'know, we should recruit him to take down Umbridge," Fred said thoughtfully, as George carefully 'Evanesco'-ed his work.

"You can be in charge of that one," George said darkly. "I'm more in favour of finding a jinx that will stop him chucking stuff at me."

Katie understood his annoyance; like his twin, George was not the most academic, but unlike Fred, he didn't have Angelina and her superintelligence to help him out. And Fred had stopped letting George look at his essays.

"Here's something to cheer you up," she said suddenly, spotting Angelina heading towards them. "Angelina's coming over and she looks excited, must mean we have Quidditch permission!"

Fred and George's heads snapped up simultaneously; there really was nothing like Quidditch to lift the spirits. Angelina finally reached their table in the corner of the crowded Charms classroom.

"Hey guys, guess what? Umbridge has given us permission to reform the team! Practice this evening at 6, okay?"

This was brilliant news! At last, something more interesting than slaving over essays all day. This elation was only slightly marred by Peeves swooping down and launching two ink pellets at Katie, covering her bag in ink.

"Dammit Peeves!" she sighed, throwing her quill at him.

"So, fancy a quick fly?" George grinned. "We've only got Charms next."

"Yeah? Good for you, I've got a double with the toad," Katie frowned. Peeves punctuated her disappointment with another inkpellet, straight to the chest. She sighed and attempted a vanishing spell but the ink refused to budge.

"Oh Godric, he's gone and switched the ink, and now it won't come out!"

"How about we go a bit before practice-?" Fred began.

He was interrupted by Katie leaping up and throwing her discarded parchment, quills and ink bottles at Peeves, who merely cackled some more at her anger.

Finally she sat down, anger somewhat dissipated; "Sorry, you were saying?"

"Leave dinner early and go flying before practice?" George elaborated on his twin's suggestion.

"Oh definitely! I've got Umbridge and Snape today so I'll be ready to kill something by dinner."

"Ah we had Snape earlier, he's in a foul mood," George frowned sympathetically.

"Still, if you want to bail you could always use a Puking Pastille," Fred suggested, smiling a little too innocently.

"Oh you mean the Puking Pastille that you've still not found an antidote for? No thanks, I don't want to be your tester," Katie said firmly. "Last time I nearly bled out on the Quidditch pitch."

Fred and George had at least the good grace to look guilty.

"Ok, we'll have to test it ourselves again," Fred began.

"Even though we may die in the attempt," George continued sorrowfully.

"Would you really want that on your conscience?" Fred added mournfully.

"Your guilt would never leave you," George finished.

Katie rolled her eyes.

"And you claim to be totally sane," she wondered aloud, grinning at the scandalised looks on the twins' faces.

A moment later those expressions turned to pure delight as Peeves swooped down and emptied an entire bottle of indelible ink over Katie's head.

"Peeves, I am going to kill you, again!" she shrieked. "I'm going to be late for that hag now! It's not funny!" she added to the twins who were falling about laughing at her inky appearance.

One week and five detentions later, Katie was seriously unimpressed with the way her sixth year was developing. She had missed way too many Quidditch practices for Angelina's liking and she had so much homework she was probably going to be buried alive in it. Luckily, the first meeting of that defence club Harry Potter had set up was tonight, and it was exactly what was needed.

Cedric was particularly keen to go to the meeting, despite the fact that he wouldn't actually be able to do any of the defensive spells. But Katie understood it, with the threat of You-Know-Who lurking outside the castle, it was nice to know they were doing something to prepare themselves.

So at just before eight, Katie and Cedric made their way out of the Gryffindor common room up to the seventh floor. Opposite the painting of Barnabus the Barmy was a large door, just like Hermione had said earlier that day. Katie pulled it open and slipped through; the room was packed and she was clearly the last one here.

"Big crowd," Cedric nodded approvingly as Katie sat down beside the twins.

"Hey Katie-Kate," George winked at her – Katie's stomach gave an odd leap, but she pushed it away as George continued. "We're planning a Slytherin Quidditch team pranking special, want in? You have been meaning to get Warrington back for locking you in the dungeons after all."

Katie momentarily found it hard to focus on what George was saying – he'd winked at her… why did she appear to be blushing?

"That's uh, that's a brilliant idea," she nodded quickly, trying not to look at him too closely. "I hope it involves Bat Bogey Hexes."

"You bet it does," George grinned at her. "Warrington will look fabulous with some facial wings."

At this point Harry Potter began speaking, and Katie did her best to concentrate on what he was saying, despite the unusually inviting presence of George on one side and the overly inquisitive face of Cedric on her other side.

"Why are you blushing?" he asked curiously, ignoring the fact that Harry might be saying something useful. "Have you developed a fondness for a certain redheaded prankster?"

Katie tried to ignore him, though she felt her cheeks burning even more furiously.

"You do!" crowed Cedric triumphantly. "See? My matchmaking skills are fantastic!"

Luckily, Harry Potter chose this moment to get them all to pair up and practice Expelliarmus. Katie was paired with fifth year from Ravenclaw, and they were both doing fairly well until they caught sight of Fred and George taking turns to use Expelliarmus on the most annoying Hufflepuff ever; Zacharius Smith.

"I have to say, I never really liked him either," the Ravenclaw, Anthony she thought, said to Katie.

"I don't think many people do," Katie agreed. "And he doesn't exactly seem keen to be here."

Harry quickly put an end to the twins' pranking, much to their disappointment, and they all began afresh to practice the spell. Despite the alarming number of wands flying everywhere, slowly everyone seemed to be improving. Slowly but surely, the right people's wands were leaving their hands and thankfully no one was being poked in the eye anymore, much to Cedric's disappointment. After twenty minutes of improved spellcasting, Harry called the meeting to a close.

"Well that was great everyone," he said a little nervously. "We'll meet again next week, we'll let you know what day."

"Don't forget about quidditch practice," Angelina pointed out. "We've got our first match on Saturday."

"Yeah, we want to pulverize the Slytherins," Fred whispered to Katie, George and Lee.

"You'd better save Warrington for me," Katie replied, "I have a need for retribution."

The twins and Lee laughed at her ominous expression; Katie had spent all of last year threatening bloody retribution against Warrington for a horrible incident in her fourth year where he had locked her in Greenhouse 3 with a particularly hungry Venomous Tentacula, for way longer than was actually funny. Katie had finally been rescued by Cedric, in the nick of time as she cowered against the far wall of the greenhouse. Since then she had unsuccessfully tried to pay him back for good.

"Less of your skeptical expressions," she snapped at her three friends, spying their laughter. "I will actually get him back properly."

"Sure, Katie, whatever you say," Fred smirked, earning himself a punch from Katie as she turned back to the meeting.

"We'll work something out," Hermione Granger was saying. "Now make sure you leave in small groups; it'll look suspicious if we all leave together."

"Come on Kates," George caught up with her as she left the Room of Requirement with Cedric. "Don't be mad at us. You can destroy Warrington in the match on Saturday, when you have a little more advantage over him than usual."

Katie narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could express her annoyance, Fred had joined them, and the two Weasleys picked her up and hurtled back to the Gryffindor common room with Katie as their hostage.

"Put me down!" she shrieked, hitting out at them. "Seriously guys!"

The twins merely cackled, and Katie resigned herself to being carried through the corridors.

"Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley," thundered a Scottish accent nearby. "Put Miss Bell down!"


	7. Chapter 7

The morning of the first quidditch match of the season dawned clear and bitterly cold. Far too early for her liking, Katie sat at the Gryffindor table with the rest of the team, shovelling down bacon and eggs to propel them through what was definitely going to be a grueling match. The Slytherin team looked ready to kill them after the epic Bat Bogey Hex and Fever Fudge prank a couple of days ago. Warrington in particular was looking murderous, cracking his knuckles and glowering at Katie. She rolled her eyes and turned to Cedric, who was the most excited he had been for weeks.

"You guys are going to kill it!" he said enthusiastically. "You'll be fine as long as you stay away from Warrington, he looks like he's going to kill you, Katie."

"Cheers for that Cedric," Katie pulled a face at him. "Just what I needed before a match against a team of guys twice my size."

Their exchange went unnoticed by the rest of the team who were too busy watching Ron with trepidation. A lot of their performance rested on him and right now he looked like he would puke on the Quaffle instead of saving it.

Still they all hurried down to the pitch regardless and prepared to take Slytherin down. The whistle went and the match began.

Katie ducked between Montague and Crabbe, bombing after Angelina to receive the pass.

"Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse-passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet's away-" Lee Jordan roared over the crowd who appeared to be singing.

Katie ducked a bludger and slowed to work out what they were singing...

"Weasley was born in a bin, he always lets the Quaffle in-" sang the Slytherins.

Godric, was there nothing they wouldn't do? Poor Ron! Fred and George flew by heading for the Bludgers, faces like thunder.

"I'll kill them!" shouted Fred, uncharacteristically furious.

With a thwack, the two Bludgers were forcefully redirected at the heads of Slytherin's chasers. Fred and George sped off in persuit, their faces filled with anger.

"Bell pay attention!" shrieked Angelina, pelting up the pitch, straight for the Gryffindor goal.

Katie turned immediately and saw the problem; Warrington was nearing their goal and she could see Ron trembling from here.

"Come on Ron!" she shouted, following Angelina up to block Warrington, but it was too late.

Warrington flew right into Katie, knocking her sideways as he sped to the goal, and scored right through Ron's arms.

Katie hung there for a moment, struggling to stay on her broom, the frozen air tearing at her lungs, as the Slytherins went wild. They sang with renewed vigor and Katie was filled with a deep rage. She pulled herself back upright, and with set face sped down the pitch, baying for Slytherin blood. They would not, could not let them win this.

Unfortunately the Slytherins had other ideas and the game continued in this vein as Ron let in goal after goal. The Gryffindors were close to losing hope when suddenly Harry flew through the middle of them, a speeding bullet of red and gold. The Snitch! The match wasn't lost!

Suddenly a Bludger hit Harry right in the back and he tumbled to the floor... Those stinking Slytherins! Katie turned her broom and flew down with the team to check he was ok. He didn't appear to have broken anything and that was cause enough for celebration.

"We did it!" George exclaimed jubilantly, enveloping Katie in a suffocating hug with Fred.

"I- I won't be able to celebrate if I can't breathe," she pointed out sarkily to their chests.

"Sorry Katie, we forget how manly and strong we are," Fred grinned at her, heading over to Angelina and Harry to congratulate them.

"You alright?" George asked Katie. "Warrington all but ran through you that first goal."

"Oh I'm ok," Katie shrugged. "I'll have some killer bruises tomorrow but it's all part of the game."

She grinned at George, the exhilaration of their victory drowning her anger at the Slytherins.

"I'm going to Bat Bogey Warrington into next week, mind you," she added as an afterthought.

"That's my girl," George laughed, slinging his arm round her shoulders as they went to join the others.

As they congratulated Harry, the team all suddenly became aware of Draco Malfoy hurling insults at Harry.

"- but we couldn't find anything to rhyme with fat and ugly -" he called over.

"Talk about sour grapes," Angelina spat.

"- we couldn't fit in useless loser either, for his father, you know," Malfoy continued.

George stiffened as he realised what Malfoy was talking about. Next to him Angelina grabbed Fred's arm.

"Leave it!" she hissed.

" – but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasleys' hovel smells ok," Draco sneered on, pleased to have struck a nerve.

At that George went for him; Katie hand slipped on his jersey and only Harry managed to catch him before he punched Malfoy.

"Or perhaps, you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it-"

It all happened very quickly after that; somehow Harry let go of George and the two of them ran at Malfoy. Angelia and Alicia all but leapt on Fred to prevent him following suit, as George and Harry threw punch after punch at Malfoy.

"Stop!" shrieked Angelina and Alicia, looking to Katie for help.

But honestly, Katie was frozen to the spot as the three boys tussled; Angelina and Alicia were screaming and Fred swearing and struggling to break free and teach Malfoy his own lesson. "Impedimenta!" roared someone from behind the team.

George, Harry and Malfoy flew apart as Madam Hooch stormed up.

"What do you think you're doing?" she screeched, surveying the blood-covered boys at her feet. "I've never seen behavior like it – back up to the castle, both of you, and straight to your Head of House's office! Go! _Now!_"

Harry and George staggered to their feet and marched off back to the castle without a backwards glance or a word to any of their team mates.

George and Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room an hour later; too shocked to do anything, the rest of the team were sat round the fireplace in stunned silence. At the sound of their two teammates returning, as one they looked round.

"What happened?" Alicia spoke for the team.

George and Harry's faces were ashen.

"We… Umbridge has given us a lifelong ban," George said heavily.

"A what?!" Fred exclaimed in horror.

Harry sighed. "And, uh, you have one too, Fred. Umbridge seemed to think you'd have punched Malfoy too if you'd not been stopped."

"I bloody would have too!" Fred burst out, his face utterly furious. "That hag!"

"Banned," said Angelina in a hollow voice as Harry and George flopped down by the fire, utterly dejected. "_Banned._ No Seeker and no Beaters… what on earth are we going to do?"

Katie could hardly bear to look at George; he looked so angry and upset. It was as if they hadn't won the match at all.

"It's so unfair," Alicia said sadly. "And Fred didn't even do anything."

The next few days were awful. With only four out of the seven team members they needed, Gryffindor Quidditch team was effectively out of action. Umbridge, that horrific woman, smiled smugly every time she saw any of them and took great pride in commenting loudly on how well the Slytherin team was doing.

On Thursday, after three days without a full team, Angelina sadly pinned a notice to the board in the common room; tryouts were happening again. This was the day it all really hit the fan…

Fred and George, who were still so so angry about the ban, finally lost it when Warrington spent the entire hour of their Seventh year Defence against the Dark Arts class taunting them about their ban and goading them just too far, as Umbridge looked on and said nothing, smirking all the while. Unfortunately, just as the twins pulled out their wands and unleashed a wide array of their best hexes, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall walked past the open classroom door.

The twins returned to the common room that evening with three weeks of detention each and fresh cuts on their hands.

"What happened?" Katie took her chance and went over to the twins; they had been avoiding everyone for days now. "Are you bleeding?"

"We sort of hexed Warrington in front of Umbridge, Snape and McGonagall," George said dully, staring into the fire.

"Three weeks of detention," Fred added, looking equally despondent.

"And the bleeding?" Katie asked tentatively.

The twins looked pretty furious still.

"Umbridge's twisted detention," George explained, looking up at Katie. "It says 'I will not hex innocent people'."

"That's barbaric!" Katie burst out, "She cut that into your hands?!"

"Yeah," Fred said flatly. "Don't know how she sneaked it past the Ministry."

"Dad would have a fit," George agreed.

Katie looked from one to the other in horror. Umbridge had won; she had reduced the irrepressible Weasley twins into blank shadows of their former selves. There was nothing for it, she'd have to kick start them back into action. They couldn't just let Umbridge and the Slytherins take back Hogwarts.

"Come on," she said, gathering up her willpower, "let's get her back big time. She can't take away your brooms and your dignity. You're the best prankers this place has seen!"

Fred and George just looked at her dully

"Well?" she demanded of them. "What shall we do? And where's Lee? He'll want in on this I'm sure."

"Katie, just leave it," said George. "There's no point."

This shocked Katie more than anything.

"No point? There's every point to doing this: we need to get her back! You guys never let Snape rest for a moment, so why let Umbridge?" she burst out, trying to galvanize them into action.

"We'll just get expelled," Fred said flatly. "We can't change this."

"Oh come on," Katie was getting frustrated now; what was the point of Hogwarts if the Weasley twins weren't orchestrating elaborate hoaxes and pranks? "You guys are legendary for pranking the Slytherins, why can't you do it again? I'll even make the plan, you guys just need to help me with the delivery."

"Merlin, just drop it would you, Katie?" George snapped finally. "We aren't going to, so just keep your nose out and mind your own business! You just can't let anything go, can you?"

The force of his words hit Katie hard; she was stunned into silence. George had never been harsh before. She looked desperately between him and Fred, hoping to see their expressions soften and take back what he'd just said, but there was no change. They both looked at her stonily.

And Katie, who had been running on stress, anger and frustration for the past few days, suddenly ran out of adrenaline, and suddenly felt that wash of tears that so often follows a wave of energy. Cedric chose that moment to appear in their midst, and he looked from the twins to Katie, whose eyes were filled with tears, and asked;

"What's going on?"

His words brought Katie to ground and she turned and fled the common room, slamming the portrait behind her.

"Possibly a little harsh," Fred said after a moment.

"Oh shut up," George snapped. "You were thinking it too."

Cedric was utterly bemused, but judging by how guilty the twins looked, something bad had happened.

"Go and apologise," he addressed George, hoping his mild ability to impinge on the consciousness of some people would work this time.

"I'm going to go apologise," George said to Fred, heading for the common room door.

Katie ran down the corridor, anger and hurt swirling in her head. How could he be so horrible to her? As she ran, she heard the portrait swing open and a voice call out;

"Katie?"

It was George. Part of Katie wanted to stop, but she carried on, the thought of dealing with this too much to bear. She turned and darted up a staircase hidden behind a tapestry and continued running. On and on she ran until she finally came to a halt in the East Tower, in the corridor just below the Divination classroom. She wiped away the tears that tracked down her face; damn the twins! She hated feeling weepy. Umbridge had ruined everything… the House Cup was lost, the twins hated her; _George_ hated her.

Why was she so upset? She stared out of the window unseeingly, mulling over the events of the last few weeks when suddenly Cedric popped up.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing," Katie said moddily.

"Oh come on, Katie, you can tell me. Poor George is all of a bother, what happened?"

Katie glared at him.

"Don't you think it's rude, reading other people's thoughts," she snapped.

"I can't help it," Cedric replied gently. "I didn't ask to be a ghost, remember?"

He had a point; Katie sighed and recounted the argument. When she was done speaking, Cedric frowned and gave her a ghostly hug.

"Oh Katie, what are we going to do with you? You are very bad with this kind of thing."

Katie, hating to agree, said instead; "I think you'll be hanging around for a very long time. This romance thing is too much effort and I don't want in on it."

"Well I look forward to haunting you and your many cats when you're eighty-five," Cedric grinned.

Katie smiled back, feeling a little better. But she had made her mind up; she was staying away from Cedric's plan.


End file.
